Good morning. Here’s your Daily Situational Awareness for Tuesday, 15 February 2022. You can receive this daily briefing by signing up at https://forwardobserver.com/daily-sa
TODAY’S BRIEFING:
- Canada invokes emergency powers
- RCMP seize guns, body armor at border protest
- Senate unable to pass continuing resolution
- U.S. evacuates Embassy in Kyiv
- Hazards Warning
UPGRADE TO EARLY WARNING AND GET THESE BRIEFINGS:
- Domestic SITREP: U.S. TRUCKER PROTESTS AND COUNTER PROTESTS
- LIC Summary/ INTSUM
SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
CANADA INVOKES EMERGENCY POWERS AGAINST PROTESTORS: Canadian civil liberties groups are warning that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s activation of the Emergencies Act is uncalled for and a slippery slope to tyranny and overreach by the government. Trudeau announced yesterday that he would activate the rarely used act in order to halt the national protests by truckers against the government’s unpopular domestic policies. Canada’s Minister of Finance stated the government would use the new emergency authorities to seize the material and financial assets of protestors as well as stop charitable contributions to the protestors from crowdfunding sites like GiveSendGo. Several Provincial Premiers have criticized the action, and the head of the New Democratic Party, Jagmeet Singh, said it was “proof of failed leadership” in Trudeau’s government. (Analyst Comment: Invoking the Emergencies Act as a method of silencing citizen protests could have unintended consequences. Trudeau’s government risks the appearance of using dictatorial powers to crush what many Canadians see as legitimate grievances. Canada’s Emergencies Act, which replaced its War Measures Act in 1988, has only been used three times, once in WWI, WWII, and in 1970 to quell an outbreak of terrorist activity from french-speaking separatists in Quebec. – M.M)
RCMP SEIZE GUNS, MACHETE, & BODY ARMOR AT BORDER PROTEST: The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have arrested 11 people and seized dozens of firearms, ammunition, body armor, and a machete in an operation that targeted a “small organized group” within the protest blockade near the U.S.-Canadian border. Police obtained the warrant after receiving a tip that the group had a cache of weapons. A spokesperson for the protest group stated that those arrested were “not a part of the main group.” (AC: The narrative of protesters labeled as right-wing extremists are likely to grow considering this incident. Canada has already initiated emergency powers to stop blockages in Ottawa. Government crackdowns are likely to increase as the perceived threat of the trucking movement increases. – D.F.)
SENATE UNABLE TO PASS CONTINUED FUNDING: The House is in recess this week, but the Senate has the job of passing the latest continuing resolution. Sen. Blackburn (R-TN) is holding up the bill over fears that government funds will be used to purchase drug paraphernalia. The White House Press Secretary dismissed the concern, “Safe smoking kits may contain alcohol swabs, lip balm, other materials to promote hygiene and reduce the transmission of diseases like HIV and hepatitis.” While the administration is not providing “crack pipes” to users, they will offer a $30 million grant to communities for needle exchanges as part of the “safe smoking kit.” (AC: Federal spending programs often contain unscrupulous provisions, referred to as pork. This round of pork is unlikely to prevent passage of the funding by Friday, but it will remain a talking point for the administration’s detractors for months. The national government’s continued demonstrations of incompetence are noticed by the world, not just Americans. Biden’s legitimacy and capability crises will likely worsen over the remainder of his term, while government funding of drug programs will likely intensify local security issues. – D.M.)
U.S. EVACUATES EMBASSY IN KYIV: Hours after National Security Adviser Sullivan held a call with lawmakers about Ukraine, the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv announced its closure and retrograde to Lviv. Consular services are on an emergency-only basis, nearly 340 miles west of Ukraine’s capital. The move comes in anticipation of a possible Russian invasion this week, according to U.S. officials. (AC: Publicly, the Ukrainian government is skeptical of the invasion claims. This could be due to a desire to maintain public order and prevent refugees from fleeing west. The U.S. clearly believes an invasion is imminent as the embassy evacuation process includes the slow process of destroying sensitive documents and equipment. Western governments anticipate a cyber attack from Russia against critical infrastructure or financial systems as the invasion occurs. – D.M.)
HAZARDS/WX:
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